No Māoris, no tour…

Sport is a huge part of the landscape of many countries. We have our sports we love, those that the odd person succeeds at and then sports that are unheard of.

Provocative action has been taken when it comes to sport for decades in New Zealand. This week I want to look at some of the sporting action that has happened in Aotearoa.

In 1921 NZ Māori rugby team played South Africa in Napier. One SA reporter sent home these words by telegraph…

“Bad enough having play team officially designated New Zealand Natives. Spectacle thousands Europeans frantically cheering on band of colored men to defeat members of own race was too much for Springboks, who frankly disgusted.”

WOW – just WOW!

Here’s a brief timeline of events that took place between NZ & South Africa when it came to rugby.

1960 – SA made it clear that Māori players were not welcome in the AB’s tour of SA. NZRU sent a racially chosen team to play. This was not the first this had happened but it was the catalyst for a protest.

1967 – The All Blacks tour of South Africa was cancelled as Māori were still not welcome.

1969 – HART (halt all racist tours) was formed with significant Māori input.

1970 – SA said that Māori players would be given the status of ‘honorary whites’ which was a term applied by South Africans to certain ethnicities, giving them most of the rights of white citizens. The New Zealand Māori Council accepted this compromise but the Māori Women’s Welfare League opposed the tour.